AUTISM

SENSORY RESOURCES

I’m constantly on the look out for useful resources to help with my son’s special needs. I’ve recently purchased disco lights for the bath, as my son finds having a bath incredibly hard at the best of times, a sensory black-out tent and a bag of sensory goodies to take with us when we do manage to go out.

Recently, I was recommended the following site for training and resources.

Any other sites or resources gladly received and will be shared if I think they might be useful.

Thank-you to caring4our kids https://anonymouslyautistic.net/tag/caring4ourkids/ for the suggested websites below. The site itself has some really interesting and useful links and I would recommend checking it out. I’ve found the articles on anxiety particularly interesting.

Another recently discovered website is MyGrants.co.uk. This websiteis easy to navigate and includes a whole range of useful grants for disabled adults and children. I have used Family Fund to buy sensory equipment for my son but was unaware of many of the other grants listed here. There are some great links, all easy to follow – wish I’d found this site sooner.

I have recently bought my son a body sock, to add to his sensory diet. For those who aren’t familiar with these, it is a 4 way stretch lycra body sock, allowing all-round movement, proprioceptive, tactile, and deep pressure experience. Once the child is inside the stretchy material gently resists their movements, encouraging experimentation. The resistant walls of the body sock provide a tactile means of self-referencing that improves body awareness, and assists in developing spatial awareness through balance and resistance. It’s now an essential part of his sensory diet and one which his new school will be using as well.

Another valuable resource, for keeping up to date with news and issues related to autism, is Autism Parenting Magazine.

The magazines recounts readers’ experiences and includes articles on resources, recent research and therapies available. It is a valuable way for parents/carers to keep in touch with what is ‘out there’ in terms of support and resources and I’m always interested to hear about the experiences of others.

Divorce and Children with Autism

Divorce is not an easy transition for any family, but for those with children with special needs there are additional factors to be considered.Whilst most parents hope that their children may become self-sufficient, this is often not a reality and steps need to be taken during the divorce process to protect and plan for the child’s future.

The NAS provides useful advice, including solicitors specializing in special needs, for parents in the UK.I am aware that much traffic to this website comes from the US and include a link below to a useful article for those parents/carers.

We are extremely lucky to have a very understanding and accommodating dentist but my son still finds visits to the dentists difficult. I have spoken to the dentist (we always have the same one) prior to the visit and she is aware of my son’s sensory processing difficulties. We also prepare for the visit and try to schedule it on a day when there is not much else going on for him, and in the afternoon so that he is able to have some calm/quiet activity time both before and afterwards. This works well for us and we have also spent some time discovering which brushes and toothpastes work best for him.

The article below has some useful tips and advice for any parents who have a child who struggles with dental visits.

We are planning a trip to LEGOLAND soon and have been given some useful information with regards to planning the day. The last time we went, my son managed only two rides because of his difficulties with standing in a queue. We ended up going on a quieter ride, with no queue, twice and then spending the rest of the day in play areas and the miniature village.

This year we have been lucky enough to have been awarded tickets by Merlin’s Magic Wand and have been sent information useful for parents of children with special needs. Merlin’s Magic Wand is a wonderful charity who provide opportunities for children with special needs to experience magical days out. The information below explains the Ride Access Passes:

There are Ride Access Passes are reserved for guests who do not understand the concept of queuing; have difficulties with everyday social interaction; have a limited capacity to follow instruction or to understand others’ emotional feelings or expressions, and may therefore become agitated or distressed if they had to queue for a ride for an extended period of time.

The bespoke Q-bot system has recently been modified to make the whole experience for our Ride Access Pass users much smoother. LEGOLAND explain the key features as follows:

Key Features

The key features of the Ride Access Pass will remain the same; in fact they will get better as we will be lifting the 10 ride per day limit, the paper tokens will be replaced by a digital platform that will be easy to access through any smart phone web browser.

Q-Bot Mobile Ride Access Pass

The Q-Bot mobile system is website based so does not require an app to be downloaded to the user’s phone and as such does not impact battery life to the same extent. LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort has a good level of wi-fi which is free to use, meaning that in nearly all areas of the Resort access to the internet will not impact on any mobile date use. The Q-Bot Mobile Ride Access Pass will allow up to 4 people to reserve their place in any attraction so that when you arrive at the reserved time access should be almost instant. This will mean that our Ride Access Pass guests will not have to physically queue and can instead enjoy other areas of LEGOLAND® until it is their time to ride. As soon as the pass is confirmed by a ride host then the next ride can be reserved.

Registering for Ride Access Pass

At the start of each visit to the resort, any eligible guests wishing to use the Ride Access Pass should still visit Guest Services at The Beginning where the team will activate their mobile session for that day. Please be aware you will still need to bring documentation stating the disability such as the below.

I LOVE the original fidget cube. I bought one for my son to put in the bag with his other sensory/fidget toys and he loves it. He finds it relieves his stress/anxiety. And, I must confess, I ended up buying one for myself too and am thinking of purchasing one for my nephew who is a doodler and the cube would probably help him concentrate ! The six sides contain features which :

Spin: A rotating dial can be spun.

Click: The “dice” side, with 3 buttons that depress to click audibly and 2 that push silently.

Roll: A trio of tactical gears, plus a clickable ball and socket.

Glide: A joystick that coasts across the surface.

Breathe: Modelled after worry stones for rubbing to relieve anxiety…when other…members…aren’t readily available or acceptable for rubbing.

Switch: A classic toggler.

The switch is my favourite, the gears and ball and socket my son’s.

There are plenty of cheaper versions on the market, which are good value for money (and the ones I’ve seen do work) if you are looking for something cheaper. However, the original, although pricey, has to be the ‘Queen of Fidget Cubes’.

I know what it’s like to have a child who struggles with falling asleep and staying asleep and from talking to other parents of autistic children it’s certainly not unusual. Some of the things that helped my son were; a routine, a calming sleep environment, a bed tent (which made him feel secure) and story CDs. My son seems anxious to let go and allow himself to fall asleep and, once asleep, he wakes often.

I found this article interesting and very relevant to our needs. I also checked out the sleep blog on the site which I found of personal interest. Do message me if you have any further ‘sleep gems’.